BREAKING: New Comics Moving to Tuesday Releases?

Moments ago at the retailer's summit occuring in Chicago before C2E2 begins, Diamond Comics, the sole distribtutor of weekly comic book issues floated the idea of moving the release day for comic book issues to Tuesday. Our main on the inside, John Siuntres of Word Balloon was at this panel and reported that Diamond floated the idea continginent on if the comic book retailers would be willing to pay 5 dollars a week more. The put the idea to a show of hands to the retailers in the audience and Tuesday releases narrowily won out.

Additionally, DC Comics VP of Sales Bob Wayne said at an earlier panel in the day that he would try and get Warner Brothers to release DVDs to comic books stores at the same time as they do to retail stores like Best Buy, in an effort to provide another product for comic book stores to sell. DVDs release on Tuesdays. Wayne also suggested that they may make alternate DVD covers especially for those comic retailers in an added way to make the comic book stories be able to compete with Best Buy.

Now it sounds as if this is all speculation and discussion amongst Diamond and the retailers, but it poses an interesting question – do you the comic buying audience care if comic books are released on Tuesdays or Wednesdays?

And what of Wayne's suggestions? Are movies the way to "Save" comic book stores?

NO! WTF?! They better not. Wendsday will always be comic day. ThAt’s been the schedrule for years. It will be hard for companys to, cause they have to ajust. Even though same number of days, there’s consistancy of wendsday

Is there an advantageous reason in moving new comics day to Tuesdays? A DC animated release comes out once every 4 months… I can’t see that as a driving force to making this change. I’m not against it… I just wanna understand the thought process.

When you get your comics in the mail, you find it doesn’t matter. But when it comes to the movies, that’s an interesting idea. Not sure if it will "Save" the store. I don’t know if advertising that they sell movies now will bring in new people, and I’m not sure if someone in the store that goes there regularly will buy a DVD at full retail price (the way most stores sell there comics/trades/etc.) but it is an interesting idea and a good discussion to have.

I like them on Wednesday. Its comes at a good time in the middle of the week. Its not a really big deal but its good to leave the stress behind for an hour or two in the middle of the week to go to the comic store and chat and read comics. I guess I could always still just go on Wednesday.

It used to be Fridays, didn’t it? I’m sure it was Thursday sometime in the 80s. Seems fine. Who wouldn’t want their crack fix one day earlier? But I’m not sure I see the benefit to retailers here. Well, if they get special DVDs that day, maybe. But does one day earlier actually equal more comic sales?

I agree. Movies are not the savior for comics. I go to a shop for comic books…not movies or music or video games. People are not going to go to a comic shop just because they have a new movie release…I think that changing around days will just cause more confusion than anything.

My only gripe with this would be that I’m off on Thursdays and Fridays (holdin’ down the fort on the weekends…woo hoo?).

I love having two solid days to read and discuss my books right after they come out. It makes working Sat and Sun bareable. I dont want to get in on the conversation two days late, but I guess I would eventually adjust.

Yeah, I’m with @tiki – what’s the upside to Tuesday other than video releases? It’s not like we get a DC or Marvel disc every week. What, once a quarter maybe. We need Wood on the case, damn it! Numbers, man, numbers!

so retailers will be able to take chances buying DVDs for resale that might not ever sell off their shelves in addition to worrying about ordering the right amount of dozens, if not hundreds, of comic titles. unless the markup on a DVD is really good, it looks like another way for stores to lose money.

I cannot for the life of me figure out how this would matter at all. DVDs are not going to do anything, and why would retailers pay more to get their comics on Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays? I personally don’t care when comics come out, but how does this actually matter?

Wowee! I wonder how Wednesday became The Comic day anyway? I always assumed it had something to do with Tuesday being new CD & DVD release day, and Friday being new movies in theaters. Maybe this move is to completely synch up all these items’ release?

I think think my weekly schedule will keep my comicbook day on Wednesday, though I may not be able to resist the urge of getting my books on release day.

Most other media is released on Tuesday, but I’m not sure how that directly benefits LCSs. Sure, some comic shops would do well selling DVDs, but others wouldn’t. Ironically, a Tuesday release day might matter more as comics move toward digital distribution, making Tuesday be the day you get your iTunes and your iComics, setting up a new tradition. And thereby cutting out Diamond and the LCS entirely.

On a biased and selfish level, I don’t like the shift to Tuesday, especially since I’m booked on those days, BUT I can see this going either way. Only time will really tell.

@Gabe: LMFAO! XD@!!! Seriously? I do NOT know a single person who buys dvds from bestbuy. We have one main up here in the pacific coast of WA. (The others are going out of business for several reasons) and I rarely browse there due to their ridiculous prices. With Frys Electronics, all other tech/electronic stores are literally shoved off to the side so this DVD add on to comic shops here is almost certain to be fruitless. Variant Cover DVD’s is NO way to compete with the Giant that is Frys, but hopefully in other states this will prove to be a very lucrative idea. I just hope the owners at Zanadu realize this going in. They seem like great guys and I’d really hate to see them getting squashed by the suits of the corporate world. They’re really dirty up here. Seriously, they’re cutthroat. I wish I was kidding about it too…

Never was around to see the shift from Friday to Wednesday. Although come to think of it, to start the weekend off with comics sounds much better. It makes sense economically, especially if DC wants to release any DVD’s with the comics as well.

Although now isn’t much of a good time. I got class this winter literally from 10am-10pm sooo….How about we do this next year?

I dont know when(if ever) this will be implemented, but I just remembered that starting next september I wont be getting my comics till friday, I have a class in New York on saturdays so I figured a good way to pass the time on the train would be to read my comics! So this whole situation is moot for me!

I find it a little strange that retailers are pushing DVDs to save the comic industry when anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that more comic stores are opening than closing – despite the recession. Anyone have any solid info to back this up or debunk it?

I thought the States was considering canceling mail on Tuesdays… has that decision been made while I was gone and it wasn’t deemed necessary to put in the news? If it hasn’t, I’m reasonably sure that the postal service has more pull than the comics industry, so shouldn’t that affect when comics come out as well?

I built my teaching schedule around being able to pick up comics early on Wednesday. Damn. Aside from that, I don’t care what day they release the books.

Given the fact that comic shops often charge roughly 50% more for DVD’s (and trades, and statues, and issues, and everything else) than other stores (Best Buy, Amazon, DCBS, etc), I don’t see how DVD releases at comic shops will have any effect on issue sales. Consumers aren’t going to start paying $22 for DVD’s just because they are in a comic shop instead of Walmart, so DVD’s at shops shouldn’t entice any new customers.

It’s probably not that big a deal what day new comics are released on (although Wednesday is the best day in the week to look forward to new stuff IMO), but I’m more adverse to the idea of DVDs being lumped into comics. This goes for gaming being thrown into comics shops as well. I understand retailers have to bring in revenue somehow, but this oil and water approach is exactly the kind of thinking that continues to push me to online and mail order comics and trade buying aside from the rising prices of monthly comics. There are plenty of examples of LCS’s that have figured out how to have a store that caters to true fans of the medium while maintaining their overhead and offering a true comics communal experience.

I’ve started to realize that I’m more plugged into the online community aspect of comics than any conversations or interactions I may have with my local retailer (of which I have none), so the ‘social’ aspect of the LCS is lost to me. It’s tough for retailers these days–sucks, but it is.

Movies wouldn’t "save" comic shops but they might just help a little just as long as retailers are willing to take the risk and offer movies on a discounted price on the week or release like Best Buy and Walmart.

As for new releases moving to tuesday I have a big problem with it. I am a college student and I work in a comic shop, my schedule is designed around me not going to school on wednesday and if they change things I am screwed for the next 8 months.

But oh will its business and you have to evolve or die. I hope Comic shop owners are open to change because god knows the need the help right now.

@deezer The USPS is now considering and as far as I can tell from the news ceasing delivery on Saturdays and not on Tuesdays. Tuesdays has the least quantity of mail, but seems to have disappeared from the conversation, my guess is because it would effect many businesses.

@junoro- any holiday that the printer and/or UPS takes off affects the production and shipping schedule. That’s what caused the no comic week in December, a combination of Christmas and Canada’s Boxing Day.
@ deezer-no, we’re getting rid of Saturday for postal service, and UPS already doesn’t ship on Saturday so no affect.
@ all- again, unless DVD’s include anime and big-screen releases like Iron Man, or Marvel and DC are going to pump out more animated material, the synergy only occurs 4-8 weeks a year, since the Big 2 tend to stick to a DVD/quarter release. And Diamond is asking retailers to pay $5 more for the privilege, which may not be much but it’s the principle. Ultimately it dosen’t matter (except maybe to my shop which is closed Tuesdays), and Diamond will do what it wants regardless of what retailer opinion is. I just think there’s more to the story.

I maybe make it my LCS on a Wednesday 40-50% of the time anyway. No big.

DVDs, on the other hand – sure, just as long as they don’t become a loss leader for the comic shops. I’m not going to buy the latest WB blockbuster at my LCS when I can get it at a big box store down the road for close to half the price. Comic shops have one thing they all (for the most part) do well, and that’s sell comics. Throwing in other stuff you can get somewhere else, even if it’s related, probably won’t work. And comic shops can’t compete in pricing with the big boxes or, to a lesser extent. the local record/DVD shop.